Dust to Dust and Memory
by jsmulligan
Summary: Titan Claney Beamard has found a measure of peace and happiness. However, when his daughter's fireteam goes dark on the Moon, he has to give it up to organize a mission to find her. Once there, he has to deal with ghosts from his past and face a Darkness greater than anything he has ever seen. Rated T for Destiny. Cross-posted to AO3. Do not post to other sites.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

I moved cautiously through the trees, looking for any sign of guards or sensors, but didn't see anything. That didn't seem right, however. This close to my target, there should have been something.

It had been days since I'd dropped in alone, scouting out the area and looking for a way in without being noticed. I had taken my time approaching, circling the entire perimeter, avoiding patrols, and letting any initial wariness that may have been sparked by my ship passing overhead die down. Complacency could lead to guards not keeping as careful of a watch. Of course, that meant nothing to electronic surveillance systems. Electric signals didn't get bored.

There. The signal amplifiers were hidden right up against the trees, on the same side as the target, of course, with leaves and sticks piled around the base to try to help camouflage the sensors. Once I'd spotted the first few, I could follow the path of them fairly easily. I decided to scout around the edge, see exactly what the security system covered. I followed the mostly circular path, only breaking away from it when I came to the well traveled paths into the base. When I came to those, I moved further away before crossing to avoid being seen, and then had to track back in and locate the system again. As I circled around, I marked a few spots that made for likely entry points. A second pass around, and I made up my mind on which should work the best.

There was a small creek that wound its way near the target and the sensors passed a little too close to the bed of it. One particular spot dipped down a little further than the rest, and I was willing to bet that I could dig out enough dirt to slip under the unseen beam and get in. I backed off and waited until the sun was beginning to set, then went to work.

It was slow going, working carefully so as not to accidentally reach too high and break the electronic signal. Eventually I had enough worn down that I could lay flat and scoot beneath. I eased myself down into the creek, making sure not to make any splashing sounds that would draw unwanted attention.

I crouched low, moving slowly through the shallow water. I peeked to make sure no one was looking, then scurried up the other bank and took cover. From here I could see my target, a large vat with two guards, who didn't seem to be very alert. Complacency. This might be easier than I thought. The only problem would be making sure no one else saw me approach.

I moved between buildings and stacks of supplies, trying to avoid exposing myself any longer than necessary. There didn't seem to be anyone else that I would have to worry about spotting me right now. I resisted the urge to rush, not letting the worry that someone else would suddenly walk through make me move before I was ready.

Then the right moment came along. The guards both shifted so that they were facing the same direction. Mistake.

I raised my rifle and pulled the trigger. Two short bursts, three direct hits on both of them, and then I raced to the target. I pulled the item that I needed to deposit from my belt, and bent it gently, feeling something inside break. There was a chemical reaction, and the little cylinder began to glow. I opened up the top of the vat and dropped the cylinder inside.

I retraced my path through the shadows and back to the creek. Getting back up through the spot I dug out was a little harder than slipping down, but I made it out without tripping the alarm. With the task accomplished, I stood up and casually walked to the main path leading into the residential area, waved to the guards, and strode toward the open fence.

I removed my helmet and had Elgan store it. As I approached, I said, "Your water is contaminated."

The guards looked at each other, then one of them jogged back in the direction of the large vat. I knew he would see the glow stick shining down in the water and two irritated guards lying on the ground. To simulate live fire exercises with non-Guardians, we had developed suits that reacted to stimulation from a training weapon. When the sensors were struck by the beam the gun fired, they locked up and immobilized the wearer. Those guards would be unable to move until their training suits were unlocked.

"How?" Zillah Arvid, Awoken Warlock, emerged from the small house that stood near the walkway, obvious annoyance on her face, her Ghost flitting around her head. "How did you get in this time?"

I grinned and indicated my muddy boots. "The creek."

"No, we put sensors around the creek, it should have been covered. Elgan," she called out to my Ghost, "did he cheat?"

"No," Elgan replied, emerging from phase. "No Light, no powers. The sensors were too close to the edge. Claney kicked some dirt loose and slid under them."

"Thrall spit!" Zillah cursed. A couple years ago during the Red War, Zillah had tried to help implement some security measures here at the Farm, and had redoubled those efforts after moving here from the Tower shortly after the end of the fighting with the Cabal.

"There were a few other spots that looked vulnerable as well," I said.

"I'll transmit the coordinates to Fievel," Elgan added.

"I have them," Zillah's Ghost replied. "I'll schedule a team to work on those portions tomorrow."

"If the goal is to keep people out, walls would be effective and take less fine tuning," a civilian muttered, one of the security techs brought in from the City to help.

"Yes, Jackson," Zillah snapped, "but Hawthorne got everyone to agree that there would not be any walls or other physical barriers that could be seen as keeping people trapped inside."

The 'Hawthorne' she was referring to was, of course, Suraya Hawthorne. The young woman who, as a teenager, had slipped out of the City walls and lived in the wilds, who had gathered survivors together, and had been instrumental in helping set up the Farm as a haven for refugees during the Red War. Who had once thought of the City as a prison and loathed Guardians. She now spent most of her time at the Tower, working as an overseer to a clan system she helped establish, as well as a liaison between the Vanguard and non-Guardians. Even though she wasn't present at the Farm very often, her wishes still carried a good deal of weight with the current decision makers.

"Electronic surveillance replacing or supporting human guards around possible targets might be helpful as well," I mentioned as the tech walked away. "I got the drop on the guards when they got sloppy. They weren't alert and had both turned the same direction."

Zillah sighed, then said, "One of these days we'll keep you out when we try this."

"Security probably needs to be better than that," I replied. "The Fallen are a lot stealthier than I am. Imagine if I was a Hunter."

"No thank you," she replied, then reached up and placed a hand on my chest, "I'll keep you just as you are."

"Hear that?" I said, glancing at Elgan who was still hovering near my shoulder, "she likes me."

"Shut up," Zillah said, giving me a light shove. "Maybe Celeste or Tanton would be willing to take a break from the City and test it out for us next time."

Zillah is a Warlock, a class of Guardian known to be warrior-scholars, full of Light and power and knowledge. For some reason I never knew, a rivalry had developed in the past between Warlocks and Hunters, another class of Guardian that tended to be quick and nimble, working as scouts and spies. When I had first met Zillah, she had let that influence the way she responded to Celeste, my adopted daughter who happens to be a Hunter. The animosity had gone both ways. Thankfully, that had cooled over the years. The Zillah I first met probably would not have been so willing to solicit help from a Hunter.

Unless it was a live fire exercise, maybe, with Hunters as the target.

I'm a Titan, the third class of Guardian as organized by the Vanguard. We are physically stronger than the other two, and tend to be clad in heavy armor. We were the defenders of the City and humanity. I'd heard someone describe the Vanguard and Guardians as a body with the Warlocks as the brains and the Hunters as the feet. In that analogy, Titans would probably be the arms, the strength.

"I'm sure they would be more than willing," I said. "Tanton would be the tougher opponent, I think, but Celeste would enjoy the challenge more. And rubbing it in your face if she got through."

Tanton Holter is a Hunter that is part of my daughter's fireteam, Painted Truth. He had been revived shortly before the Red War, and had quickly developed into a fine Guardian. If he had more experience, it's possible he would be one of the Hunters approached to fill the position of Hunter Vanguard that had been left vacant for nearly a year, ever since the death of the previous Vanguard, Cayde-6.

"Oh, Traveler, I don't want to give her that opportunity," Zillah said with a shake of her head. "I'll ask Tanton."

"Probably for the best," I replied. "But that is a worry for another day. For now, I need food and a shower. I've been out there for days with little to eat and I'm sure I smell more than a little ripe. I'm going to go get cleaned up. Think you can call it a day in about half an hour and join me for dinner?"

"I think I could manage that," she said.

I touched her upper arm for a moment, resisting the urge to be more affectionate since she was in mostly in professional mode and there were too many observers. Plus, I could notice that I really did smell, and she probably wouldn't have appreciated it. I jogged home, then showered and dressed as quickly as I could. Casual, comfortable clothes felt nice after wearing the same set of armor for several days in a row. That actually represented a small but noticeable change in my mindset, since being out of my armor used to leave me feeling exposed. Once I was ready, I headed back over to where I had left Zillah.

"Almost done here," she said, and ducked back into the small building. From inside, I could hear the indistinct sound of her voice calling out several different instructions. I waited a few minutes, then she reemerged. "Good to go."

We headed toward the cafeteria, what used to be the mess hall. Like many of the new buildings in the Farm, it was a recent construction and had replaced something that had been thrown hastily together to serve refugees during the Red War. It was much less utilitarian than it had been, and offered more food choices. It was the primary place to eat, though other restaurants were in various states of construction now and would soon offer some competition.

Before much longer we might have to stop referring to this place as The Farm.

We walked side-by-side, and I felt the back of her hand brush against mine. I turned my hand and she placed hers in it, her fingers slipping between my own. I glanced over to her, and saw her gaze was turned ahead.

In the gloom of evening I could make out the glow swirling faintly beneath her light blue skin, and her amber eyes were beginning to shine. Both were products of her Awoken origins, as was her naturally green hair. The Awoken were an off-shoot of humanity, whose origins were tied with the Collapse at the end of the original Golden Age of Humanity. They were born where Light and Dark met, and that had been all that was known for a long time. The Awoken of the Reef liked to keep their secrets. They also didn't care for Guardians, especially Awoken Guardians, who they tended to view as less than people.

When I met Zillah nearly five years ago, she had been trying to earn the approval of the Awoken, and not making much progress. It had lead to her being frustrated and angry much of the time. She had gone away for a while, and when she came back, she had seemed to have made peace with that part of herself. She still hadn't told me much about that. She came back during the Red War and we, along with what was now my daughter's fireteam, fought together to survive. After that, she had agreed to have dinner with me, and we had been together since. That last part still didn't seem quite real, sometimes.

As if she felt my eyes on her, she stopped walking and turned to look at me.

"You're staring at me again, aren't you?" she asked.

"No, not staring," I replied. "Looking. Admiring, even. But not staring."

"Why do you do that?"

"What? Look at you? I didn't realize I needed a list of reasons to do that," I said, and gave a half smile.

"No," she shook her head. "Not just look at me. It's the way you do it, like you're trying to figure something out. You've got that little furrow going between your eyebrows again."

I self-consciously reached my free hand up, fingertip touching the spot in question. "I was just thinking about something."

"Dangerous words from most Titans," she said with a smile, a teasing note in her voice. "Maybe you should have been a Warlock. Though I don't know if your shoulders would have fit down some of the aisles in the libraries."

"Guess I would have just needed a good study partner, then," I responded.

"Perhaps," she said, then continued with her previous line of questioning. "What were you thinking about?"

"You, mostly," I admitted.

"Mostly?"

"A little scattered," I said and waved my hand, "you know how it is. One thought leads to another, leads to another, until there are all these branching paths, but they circle back to you in the end."

She looked away, casting a glance skyward, "And what were you thinking about me?"

I opted for honesty. "About us. When we met. When you left and came back. How it's hard to believe that you are still here sometimes."

"Why is that so hard to believe?" she asked, turning her glowing, amber eyes back to me.

I shrugged, "I spent a long time not letting anyone close. This is just never something I imagined for myself, I guess. Having someone like you in my life… it doesn't always feel real."

She turned step in front of me, facing me and taking hold of my other hand. "Well, you'd better start believing it's real, as I have no intention of leaving. I know I said something similar before I left for the colony, and I let what happened on Venus come between us, but I mean it. I'm not going anywhere."

"Glad to hear it," I said with a grin. I leaned in, giving into the impulse this time and kissed her lips. There was never that almost electric feeling from the first time I'd done that, but there was still a pleasant tingle that lingered briefly after. "And on that note, there's something else I've been thinking about for a while now. I was waiting for the right moment, but I don't know if I could manufacture a time that would feel better than right now."

I took a step back and released her hands. She gave me a questioning look. I held one hand behind my back, and Elgan transmatted a small object into it. When I brought my hand back around, she glanced down at the small, black box I was holding and her eyes grew wide. I opened it as I dropped to one knee.

"Zillah Arvid, will you marry me?"

"Yes," she said, with a bigger smile than any I'd ever seen on her face.

I stood, removing the ring from the box and slipping it over her finger. I released her hands, reached up and cupped her face with my hands, then leaned in and kissed her again, longer this time.

The moment was interrupted by a smattering of applause. I broke the kiss and looked around, coming to the realization that we were not alone and people were staring at us. I let out an embarrassed laugh, leaning down to press my forehead against hers.

"Looks like we had an audience. Let's get out of here and go get that dinner," I said.

"Sounds good to me," she said.

She hooked her arm around mine, and we went to go find some food.

…

**AN:**

**Hello, and welcome to the latest entry in the Claney's Journals series. I had thought after ****When the Sun Winds Down**** that I might be done for a while and move on to trying to write original content again, but then something in Shadowkeep really caught my interest and demanded that I continue Claney's story. Hopefully you enjoy and follow along.**

**If you have not read my previous work, I highly recommend that you read ****A Not so Simple Patrol**** and ****When the Sun Winds Down**** before reading this, as it is effectively the third in the trilogy. Reading ****Tales We'll Tell**** beforehand is recommended as well, though not essential.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next several months went by quickly. If we weren't busy working around the Farm, and there was always plenty to do, it was getting things ready for the wedding. Well, that last one was mostly Zillah. Still, I had things to take care of.

For one thing, I needed a best man. I had told Zillah that I had spent a long time not letting anyone close, and that was true. As a result, there weren't exactly a lot of people that I called friend. I considered Tanton, but instead decided to first try to mend a bridge I'd let fall into disrepair years ago.

I had once been part of a fireteam called Fireteam Beircheart, back when I was a young Guardian. The majority of the team died as a result of the event known as the Great Disaster, when Guardians had attempted an all-out assault of the Hive stronghold on the Moon. Two of us survived and carried on, an Exo Titan named Caelan-5 and me. We tried to work together a few times after that, but it was always difficult, there were too many memories. I hadn't seen him since the Battle of Twilight Gap. I wasn't even one hundred percent sure that he had survived the Red War. So many Guardians had died after their Light was stolen by the Cabal and their leader, Dominus Ghaul.

"Elgan, can you try to track down Caelan-5," I asked my Ghost.

"Can I track down a Guardian?" he asked in response. "Can you punch stuff?"

"A simple yes would suffice."

"Yes, it probably would, but it wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying," the Ghost replied. "I mean, I tracked down that Hunter who was trying to kill you, and he didn't want to be found. You shouldn't even have to ask if I can at this point."

"Fine. Will you track down Caelan for me? Please."

"Gladly," he said, then went silent for several moments. "He's on Titan."

"Titan?" I considered that for a moment. "I suppose that makes sense. Zavala went there during the Red War hoping to find some Golden Age technology to use, and Caelan did always enjoy tinkering with stuff."

Caelan had often built drones to help accomplish certain tasks. He said he got the idea from watching Fallen Shanks. He figured if they could have little helpers, why shouldn't he. He'd built drones to help with communication, scouting, attacking, bombing, and any other task he could come up with.

"Do you want me to reach out to his Ghost?" Elgan asked.

"No," I shook my head. "This should be done in person. We need to schedule time to go."

"Done," he said almost as soon as I was done. "If you leave first thing tomorrow, travel time puts us arriving at Titan late afternoon."

"That was quick," I said, a little surprised. "I thought it would take more time to reschedule things."

"Well, maybe you aren't as essential around here as you think."

"You always know the nicest things to say."

"Someone has to keep your head from getting too big," the Ghost said, twisting portions of his shell.

"Somehow I don't think that's a problem," I muttered. I was currently standing in a trench dug in the ground, walking sideways to try to judge by feel if it was at the correct angle to laying down piping. A task probably better suited for someone without a mechanical leg, though I'd become familiar enough with the prosthetic over the last few years that I would tell when things underneath felt off now. Regardless, it wasn't exactly an ego swelling activity.

I was no Hivesbane, Young Wolf, or Hero of the Red War, after all.

Once the trench was satisfactory, it was a matter of putting in the pipes for the water to flow through. For that we had to check the ends and fittings, apply primer and cement, and fit each piece one after the other. Once it was all in, we covered the piping with the dirt that had been dug out previously. By the end of the day, we'd gotten quite a bit finished.

I would have been doing more of the same the next day, if not for the trip to Titan. Rather than wait for morning, I opted to leave as soon as I'd cleaned up. I could just sleep on the flight. I had Elgan send a message to Zillah letting her know where I was going and when I expected to be back. Once that was done, we set off.

I stayed awake just long enough to break atmosphere.

…

Elgan woke me with a loud buzz as we made our approach to Titan.

The largest moon of the planet Saturn, Titan had been home to a Golden Age human colony and research station that had originally covered the entire surface of the moon. In the centuries since, most of the construction had collapsed into the methane sea, leaving behind a few crumbling buildings that were part of the New Pacific Arcology.

During the Red War, Commander Zavala had retreated to Titan, and called Guardians to gather there. It was from Titan that he had built up the first part of the resistance and started planning the counterattack before returning to Earth. After the war ended, a Guardian presence had been left behind lead by Deputy-Commander Sloane, a Titan like myself and the Commander.

Deputy-Commander Sloane who was hailing us now.

"Approaching ship, identify yourself."

"This is Guardian Ship 3110 Lost Days and Titan Claney Beamard on approach for Siren's Watch," I replied. "Ghost sending identification codes now."

There was a short pause.

"Cleared for approach, Guardian," Sloane said. "Welcome to Titan."

"Despite the human colonization here," Elgan said, "Titan was never terraformed by the Traveler. The atmosphere is inhospitable to life, though, somehow the remains of the Arcology are more welcoming. It seems some sort of Golden Age technology that we haven't been able to figure out yet is still active."

I transmatted onto the Siren's Watch landing platform just outside of the command center. I took a few minutes to look around, taking in the age-worn structures and constantly rolling sea beneath. It almost looked like an electrical current of some kind was carrying across the surface of the ocean.

I stepped inside, then up a short flight of stairs to find Sloane in her command center looking out over the remains of the Arcology. In appearance she was a middle-aged woman, though appearances were very deceiving when it came to Guardians. We tended to look like whatever we had in our old lives at the time of our death, but with bodies beyond peak physical condition for a standard human. We also tended not to age, or if we did, it was nearly imperceptible. I was shocked to see that she had her helmet off and her forearms were bare, despite the command center being open to the elements.

"I told you," Elgan said privately. "Golden Age technology."

"Welcome, Titan," she said. "Don't think I've seen you out this way before."

I shook my head. "No, I've never been to Titan before now. I was at the Farm during the War, and have pretty much been there since."

"Well, what brings you our way now? Here to help root out that Hive infestation we can't seem to get rid of?"

Again, a negative response. "No. I'm actually here looking for a Guardian, a former member of an old fireteam. My Ghost tells me that he might be out here."

"Might?" Elgan asked over the private line again, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Yes, might," I replied. "Maybe he left before we got here, or maybe that information was old to begin with. Now hush."

"Who are you looking for?" Sloane asked.

"A Titan by the name of Caelan-5."

"Ah," Sloane nodded. "Yeah, he's around here. He'd been a big help getting some of the systems up and running again. I believe he is helping some Warlocks with a research project today, trying to set up some drones or scanners to monitor something."

"Sounds like him," I said, smiling at the ghost of a memory.

"Let's see…" Sloane held out her hand and her Ghost appeared. "Show me a map of the Arcology."

Her Ghost bobbed and projected a holographic image of the Guardian populated region of Titan on one of the control consoles. It was mainly two sections of the station, labeled Siren's Watch and The Rig, connected by bridges, with some offshoots that were mapped out but had seen far less foot traffic. A marker popped up on the map near a section labeled Solarium.

"There," she said, indicating the waypoint. "He should be deep down inside this portion of the Arcology. I'll have my Ghost share the map with yours."

"Got it," Elgan informed me.

"Thanks, Sloane," I said, and left to locate Caelan.

"Told you he was here," Elgan said, smugly.

"Yes, you're very clever, now be quiet."

I stepped back outside and hopped off the landing platform, using the Light to slow my descent. I took a second to orient myself, and set off in the direction of the beacon. First, I had to cross from Siren's Watch to the Rig, which involved crossing a bridge. This section was still in good condition, despite the years, weather, and efforts of the methane sea.

Once on the rig, I ran into my first resistance. Hive Acolytes were gathered in a small room to my left, and began taking potshots at me. A few three-round bursts from my pulse rifle took care of the problem, ripping through them, their bodies immolating as round struck the worm inside.

I cut to the right, circling around the central building that dominated this portion of the Rig. On the far side was a small platform with Fallen Vandals standing on it as if watching for something. Maybe the Hive. Whatever it was, it had them facing opposite of my approach. I charged a grenade, tossing it so that it landed between them. The Vandals turned at the sound just in time for it to go off, Void Light erupting outward and disintegrating them.

From there, I advanced past a large gate and had to cross another open space. This bridge was in much worse shape than the previous one, bent and broken in many spots. I had to make a few risky jumps here, very aware of the deep ocean beneath me each time. From there, I had to enter into the New Pacific Arcology.

I passed through a narrow corridor, noticing motion on my HUD's tracker. The corridor gave way to an open room that held a couple more Hive. I quickly took down the two Acolytes that occupied the room, one of them getting off a shot that I had been unable to avoid, dropping my shields momentarily.

Once they were dead, I noticed a person-sized hole cut in some tiles. Stepping through the hole, I entered a very large space, overgrowths of plants covering several surfaces, most notably in the center of the area. Overhead, I could see several levels and windows. This area looked like either an apartment complex or office facility of some sort, with overgrown area looking like a plaza. Panels all throughout the space were shining with artificial light.

There were two exits, one to the left, the other forward and to the right. I need that one, according to the marker. Cautiously, I stepped into the open area and crossed, watching for any surprises from the Hive or Fallen, but nothing emerged.

Once through the door, I found myself in another series of corridors. Along these were several lit panels, showing some sort of plant life. I couldn't quite tell if the panels were glass with actual plants displayed behind them, or just video displays. Elgan emerged, and I noticed him sweeping a scanning beam across a few of them. There was more uncontrolled vegetation growing through here as well, with grasses and other things growing from the floor and vines hanging from ceilings and down walls, giving evidence to the state of disrepair this place had fallen into.

I passed through an old turnstile, then reached a closed door. A flash of Light and Elgan had it opened. We stepped into the room and found that the floor continued a few steps before a big drop to the level below, which was flooded.

"The water is only a matter of centimeters deep," Elgan said, "nothing that will cause a problem."

I took his word for it and hopped down. As soon as my feet splashed in the water, multiple movements suddenly flashed onto my HUD.

"Okay, so, the water won't cause a problem," Elgan said. "I didn't say there wouldn't be any trouble."

There was a loud shriek, and then Hive Thralls came charging toward me. They must have been feeding or sleeping in the room out of sight. I drew my weapon and fired, taking out two of three of them before they could get close, but there were too many to get them all.

My right hand released the rifle and I drew my arm back, then punched the first Thrall as it leaped at me. The blow would have been enough to kill the frail creature, but there was also a release of pent up Void energy as my fist made contact. This caused the creature to explode outward. As other Thrall nearby were struck, they also erupted in a chain reaction of purple Light. The Thrall behind them wisely took a few steps back to try a different angle.

An alarm sounded in my ear as something struck me, and I looked past the Thrall to see two Acolytes and a Knight at the head of some stairs on the opposite side of the room. It was the Acolyte who had shot me, but I could see the Knight readying his Boomer. He jerked from the recoil and a blast of rotting starfire launched out of the end of the weapon, streaking for me.

I brought up my left arm and activated my barricade, the energy shield flaring to life just in time to intercept the screaming shot. It exploded across the hardened light, sending cracks all through its surface. The Thrall launched a renewed attack, swarming around and through the barrier.

Those that passed through found themselves blinded and easy targets. The ones that swept around closed in on me as I shot the ones who came through, claws tearing at my armor, seeking purchase to try and pry it from me. I slapped the rifle to my back and met them hand to hand, pulling them from me and finishing them with punches. Another shot from the Knight's Boomer struck my shield, shattering it. The force pushed me back slightly.

I grabbed my pulse again, picking off the Acolytes as they poked from cover to try to shoot at me again, then I sprinted forward, closing the gap between myself and the Knight. It roared a challenge as I charged in. I tossed a Light charged grenade that landed beside him. The explosion wounded and blinded the Hive warrior, which brought an arm up to protect its eyes. Following the grende, I used the Light to launch myself forward, a shielf of Void Light forming in front of me. I crashed against him, and the energy released, destroying the Knight.

"This is a lot of work just to have a conversation," I muttered.

"Just imagine if he says no," Elgan chimed in.

The next room had several large windows with more vegetation growing behind them, and a door that wouldn't work. A tunnel led around, clearly dug out by Hive claws.

"That looks like a bad idea," Elgan whispered.

"And yet…" I said, and entered the hole.

I passed through the high tunnel, which led to further corridors in the building. Luckily, I saw no more Hive going forward, but there was evidence of several firefights in the area, with some of the shells and scoring looking quite recent. The trail led me through some very narrow crawl spaces, the last of which had a grated floor. Beneath, I could see a large open room with several platforms thrust out over a large drop. There was a hole in the floor just above one of the platforms.

I jumped down through it.

Looking around, I spotted a figure dressed in Titan armor kneeling on one of the platforms, hunched over some machine that it was working on. I jumped out over the long drop, using the Light to push me to the next landing. At the sound of my approach, the figure turned to look, and I recognized the brown, mechanical face instantly.

Caelan-5 was an Exo, a humanoid robot created during the Golden Age and implanted with a human mind and consciousness. Each Exo had a number after their name, which indicates how many times they had been "reset" in their old life. There was a lot of speculation about why exactly the Exos were made, what they were used for, and why their minds were reset. Teams of Warlocks were digging through all the information contained in the recently uncovered Clovis Bray facility on Mars and finding new tidbits at a rapid pace.

He watched my approach, his green optics narrowed beneath the gray metal shield that dominated his forehead. As I drew closer, they widened suddenly as if in recognition. He stood fully, waiting until I drew near.

"Claney?" he asked. "Is that really you?"

I removed my helmet, and Elgan transmatted it into storage. "Yeah, it's me."

"I had heard a rumor that you survived the Red War," he said. "Good to know that was true. I haven't seen you since…"

"Twilight Gap," I said, finishing the sentence. "I know. I'm sorry I didn't do a better job of keeping in touch."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "What were we going to do? Sit around and say, 'Hey, remember that time everyone we cared about died?'"

"Yeah…" An awkward silence fell as I let the thought trail off. I finally broke it, "Seems like you're keeping busy. What is this?"

"Hmm? Oh, this," he gestured to the machine. "I'm helping some Warlocks set up a system to monitor the leviathan."

"The Leviathan?" I asked. "I thought that was at Nessus." I certainly hadn't seen a massive Cabal ship while approaching Titan.

"No Leviathan, capital l," he said. "Lower case, leviathan. A large sea creature there keeps swimming around the Arcology. I developed a drone that could survive and move in the liquid methane out there, and it's been swimming around it for a few hours now."

"Really?" I asked as something beeped inside his machine.

"Yeah. Actually, it's on approach now. Watch," he said, then pointed toward the large windows along the wall. A small form passed across the window, lights blinking on one side. "There's the drone. Now see what comes next."

The shadow of the drone cleared my field of view. Following the path it had just taken came another shadow. This one was much larger.

"What is that?" I asked, stepping closer to the edge of the platform.

"No idea, yet," the Exo replied. "But keep watching."

The massive shape continued swimming past the window with an undulating motion. It was long and solid, a serpentine creature with no obvious fins, but rows of spikes protruding along the length of it. The tail end of the beast was the most disturbing. Long, thin shapes and whip-like flagella protruded from the rear of the animal. The silhouette was disturbingly familiar.

"That looks like-"

"A massive Hive worm?" Caelan interrupted. "You wouldn't be the first person to make that comparison."

I turned from the window to look back at him. "Is it? Could that be one of the Worm gods?"

"I don't think so," he shook his head. "It doesn't look like that one that was killed on Mars."

The race known as the Hive came about when the species they used to be made a pact with the Worm gods, who were either servants or personifications of the Darkness. These worms were fed by the Hive's actions, by everything they killed using a belief known as the Sword Logic, which essentially boiled down to a survival of the fittest mentality.

"If not a god, could it just be a worm from a specific Hive? Could one have grown that big?"

Caelan shrugged. "Do I look like a Warlock? All I know is that it's big and creepy, and has apparently been hanging around here a while. I found computer records from before the Collapse talking about strange readings and encounters with a large undersea creature."

A chill ran up my spine as the being disappeared from view, swimming off into the depths of Titan.

"I think I'll be a little more careful about jumping over any gaps in the rigging," I said.

"Good idea," Caelan replied. "Of course, the ocean itself would kill you long before the leviathan, or any other creatures out there, had a chance to take a bite."

"Still."

"Yeah." He checked a screen on his device, then looked back up. "What about you? What have you been up to?"

"Well, let's see," I said. "A lot has happened in recent years. Short version, I've got an adopted daughter. I started a fireteam, but passed control to her after the Red War. I've since set up at the Farm and have been helping get things going there, trying to make it into something bigger and better."

"Really? That's… wow. A kid?"

"Yeah, she's a Guardian. Rezzed young."

"Like that girl at the Gap," he said. "What was her name?"

"Silvan."

"Yeah, that's it. And the Farm?I never would have expected something like that from you."

"Me either," I admitted. "But things change. I've changed. I've, uh, got another surprise as well."

"Oh?"

"I'm getting married."

Caelan froze, then turned his head up slowly to look at me. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. To an Awoken Warlock named Zillah I met back around the time of the Transmission crisis, before the SIVA outbreak."

"That's great," he replied, his face plates shifting into a grin. "Congratulations."

"Thanks. There's one more thing, the reason I came out here. I was wondering if you would be my best man."

He blinked his optics. "Did you really travel all the way out to Titan just to ask that?"

"It seems the sort of thing you should ask in person," I said with a nod.

"Then how could I say no?"

I held out my hand. He stood up to shake it, then used it to pull me into a hug, slapping me hard on the back with his free hand.

"I've missed you, brother," he said. "Glad to see you finally coming back from wherever you went after the Moon."

…

I thought about what Caelan had said the whole flight back to Earth, about me "coming back". Back when I had first been resurrected and joined Fireteam Beircheart, we had been part of the Pilgrim Guard, Guardians who guided people to the Last Safe City, protecting them on their journey from various dangers. After losing the team, I had never officially been part of a specific Titan order, but I essentially was living under the Firebreak Calculus, "How much good could I do if I find the right place and fight until I die?"

It was a solitary, mercenary existence, chasing battle, trying to find that particular hill. I never did, however. Then, I found Celeste, and my world changed. Then changed again when Zillah came into my life.

I'd trained new Guardians, opened up enough to start a fireteam, and was now back to helping people find a safe haven. It might not be the City, but it was still a home and I was going to do everything I could to protect it and the people who found their way to us.

Maybe I was back. I smiled at the thought.

…

**AN**

**FF: Thanks to LisaJohnson21 for the author favorite and follow!**

**The references to the Battle of Twilight Gap here and a young Guardian named Silvan are referencing a story by my good friend NetRaptor called "Father, Daughter, Twilight Gap" where she featured Claney and Caelan both. You should go read it if you haven't, as well as the rest of her stuff. It's good.**

**At the suggestion of a friend, I recently set u n. If you have been following along the last three years or so that I've been writing, or even if you're new here (hello, by the way), I would appreciate it if you wanted to offer a little support that way. I'm there as JSMulligan. Lowest tier for support is $1. Supporters will get snippets of works in progress, updates about my writing, the occasional poll of what should come next, their characters appearing in stories, and the highest level will get a short story written for them. Thanks to Netraptor for being the first supporter!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Finally, the day arrived. I thought I had been nervous when I picked her up from her apartment for our first date. That was nothing compared to what I was feeling now.

I stood looking at myself in the mirror, adjusting the parade armor. Behind me was a small couch or loveseat, with Caelan-5 sprawled out on it. Tanton was just visible in the mirror as well, quietly leaning up against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. I checked once again for any imperfections. Was the mark a fraction out of place?

"You're making me nervous watching you," Caelan said. "You look fine. Just go sit down or something."

Elgan materialized above my head, his eye turned toward the mirror as well. He was wearing an elaborate shell purchased from Eververse for a healthy amount of bright dust, the Sanctified Vigilance Shell, and had a small bow tie attached to him. As I watched, he turned from side to side, twisting pieces of his shell.

"You look fine too, Ghost," Caelan said.

"Oh, trust me, I know," Elgan said, swooping down and away from me, facing the Exo. "In fact, I dare say I might outshine the bride and groom. Maybe that's why he felt the need to go find someone else to be the best man instead of, oh, I don't know, the one who brought him back to life in the first place."

"You're the ring bearer, Elgan," I said. "It's very important."

"It's a kid's job," he muttered. "I've seen other weddings, you know."

"Maybe it's a size thing," Caelan said, pointedly not looking at Elgan.

Elgan's eye narrowed. "Not nice."

I rolled my eyes and gave my mark a little adjustment. Perfect. I checked the clock. Any moment now and someone would be knocking at the door. I turned from the mirror and sat on the arm of the couch.

"Just think of it as another mission," Tanton offered. "One you've been preparing for for months, and even got to practice."

"Just with a very different kind of reward at the end," Caelan added and barked a laugh. "Does the phrase 'loot chest' mean anything to anyone?"

I felt my face get warm and gave him a disbelieving look.

"What?" he asked, and did his best to look innocent. It was impressive sometimes how much could be conveyed through an Exo's mechanical face.

Just then, there was a knock. Tanton pushed away from the door in a smooth motion and stepped to the door and opened it. A face appeared in the space that formed between the door and the frame.

"We're ready, Mr. Beamard."

I stood, took a deep breath, and exhaled loudly.

"You've got this," Caelan said. I nodded, and the three of us stepped out of the room, with Elgan following behind.

The ceremony was being held in a cathedral that had been built early in the Last Safe City's history. Between people holding on to older belief systems, and a growing amount of Traveler worship early in the early days of refugees gathering beneath it, it had been decided that a place or worship was needed. Without the resources for multiple buildings at the time, these different faiths had come together in the construction of a shared space that was modeled on an ancient cathedral from someone's homeland. The building had taken some damage over the years of Fallen raids and the Red War, but it always managed to get repaired and was maintained at a high level.

I stood outside the sanctuary staring at the door, waiting for my cue to enter, with the others standing behind me. I noticed movement from the corner of my eye and turned my head to find two figures approaching, Zillah's portion of the wedding party. One was my daughter, Celeste, the other was Zillah's niece and Maid of Honor, Reena Arvid.

I hadn't even known that Zillah had any family members left until recently. Neither did she, it turned out. There was no denying the relation, however, as the resemblance was uncanny. Zillah told me that she'd discovered that she had a twin sister that she didn't remember who had a daughter. Her sister had died some years ago, but Reena had seen Zillah in the City and approached her. Things hadn't gone well, but after the Red War, Zillah had tracked her down to mend fences. Seemed to be a lot of that going around lately.

"Hey, Old Man," Celeste offered as a greeting. She stepped in close and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"Hey, Kiddo," I replied, patting her back.

"Are you sure you really like her?" she asked.

"I'm sure," I said. "Not trying to talk me out of it after she swallowed her pride and asked you to be a bridesmaid, are you?"

"No," she shook her head. "Just making sure. I want you to be happy."

That hit me hard, and I didn't trust myself to respond. Instead, I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. About then, there was a shift in the music playing inside the sanctuary.

"Guess that's my cue," I said. Celeste released the hug, I checked the position of my mark one last time, then I pushed through the doors and stepped inside, Caelan following behind.

Nearly every head in the room turned to me when I entered. There wasn't a large crowd, but it still left me feeling suddenly awkward and exposed. I kept my eyes forward, locked on the place where I was to stand. I walked along the red carpet that had been spread down between the seats. Waiting at the end of the walk was the wedding official. In years past, the Speaker had often overseen these types of proceedings, but he had been killed during the Red War, and no one had stepped up to take his place. Instead, someone from the City had been brought in to handle the wedding.

I reached the front, just below where the wedding official stood, turned, and took my place. Caelan stood to my right. Next, Tanton escorted Celeste down the aisle. They split as they reached the end of the aisle, taking their places. Once they were settled in, Reena walked, taking her place just to the left of where the bride would stand. Following her was Elgan with his little black tie on, the gems embedded in the shell catching the light and flashing. He hovered to the right of Tanton. Then we waited.

There was another shift in the music. Everyone in the crowd stood to their feet and turned to the double doors again. After a few seconds, Zillah entered.

Where I had chosen parade armor, Zillah had opted for a more traditional wedding gown. It left her arms and shoulders bare, but flowed downward, a frill running down the front and around the bottom of the dress. Her Ghost, Fievel, accompanied her down the aisle, a red flower attached to his shell that matched those that Zillah carried.

She was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen.

I watched her approach, a smile that I couldn't have stopped if I wanted to forming on my lips. Her eyes were locked on mine as she drew close, and she smiled as well. She and Fievel paused when she reached the end of the last row of seats. She turned her eyes from me to exchange a look with her Ghost. He drifted to the side, and she stepped up next to me, handing her flowers to Reena. Once she was in place, the audience sat back down and an expectant silence filled the room.

"We are gathered here today," the official began, "to see the joining of these two in matrimony. Marriage is a wonderful thing, and perhaps more so when the people getting married are Guardians. Too often those blessed by the Traveler are thought of as being apart from humanity, seen as unfeeling or alien. Some people even think that Guardians are incapable of anything but war. Days like this prove that to be a lie. What could be more human than wanting companionship, in finding that in another person, and wanting to share that with those that are important to them? And what could be further from war than love?

"That being said, there are some differences to consider due to the special nature of Guardians and their lives. For example, in a traditional wedding, a minister might ask, 'Who gives this woman to this man,' however, but the context is now different. The majority of Guardians have no family to fulfill that role. So instead, we turn to their Ghosts.

"Elgan. Fievel. Thus far, you have been the companion for your Guardians. You resurrected them, you have been with them every step of their lives, and have a bond closer than anyone else can comprehend. You know better than anyone save your Guardian themselves what they think, feel, and need. Do you agree that the partner your Guardian has chosen is a good fit for them?"

"Yes, we do," they answered in unison.

"Excellent," the minister continued. "There is another difference to consider. For Guardians, the traditional wedding vows take on different connotations. 'For better or for worse; for richer or poorer'? Easy enough to consider. 'In sickness and health; until death do us part'? Those words feel a little different when you are in frequent battles and could potentially live for countless years, and a Ghost around to heal illnesses that would impact others differently. As such, Claney and Zillah have opted to write their own vows. Claney, please proceed."

I felt the weight of every eye in the room on me again and swallowed hard. I turned to Zillah, reaching out to take both of her hands in mine. Looking into her amber eyes, I tried to remember the words I had rehearsed several times.

"Zillah," I began, "you have filled my life with feelings and experiences that I could never have imagined before I met you. For years, I fit the stereotype of Guardians that was mentioned earlier, disconnected. Uncaring. I am so thankful for all the people who came into my life and helped wear that barrier down bit by bit until it was fragile enough to shatter completely and allow you in.

"I haven't always said or done the right thing. I can guarantee that I will not always say or do the right thing in the future. What I can say is that from this day forward I will love you, be faithful to you, and do everything within my power to take care of you in any way that I can. You once told me that it was not my job to protect you, but today that changes. From this day forward, you are my home, my world, and I will be the wall that surrounds and protects you. From here on, we protect and watch over each other.

"I love you, and commit myself to you, to be your partner and shield, for the rest of my life."

Zillah smiled and squeezed my hands tightly.

"And now Zillah," the officiant said.

It was my turn now to squeeze her hands gently, offering reassurance. Zillah took in a deep breath, let out a little nervous laugh, then began.

"Five years ago," she said, "two broken and damaged people met each other for the first time. I'd be lying if I said it was love at first sight. Their edges were too sharp, too jagged, for anything like that to happen. But, over time, those sharp edges wore down, and the fractured pieces of their lives began to connect. Eventually, those pieces fit together, filling spaces that life had hollowed out. A friendship emerged, and then blossomed into something more.

"You have told me that this was a day that you never thought would happen. I felt the same way. I was lost lost and untethered, never feeling like I belonged anywhere. If I couldn't even find my place in the world, torn between ideals and callings, how could I ever find anything deep and meaningful with another person? How could I even think to share who I am with another soul if I wasn't even sure who I was?

"But I found myself. And I found you. And together, we can find or make our own place in this world. It doesn't matter if that is on the Farm, the Last City, the Reef, or somewhere in the far-flung depths of space, all that matters is that I have you at my side when we get there.

"I love you, and look forward to building a life and a place with you from this day forward."

I was pretty sure I heard some sniffles from the crowd after that.

"You have the rings?" the officiant asked Elgan.

"Of course, I do," the Ghost replied.

Caelan held out his hands, and a pillow materialized with the rings sitting on top of it. He stepped in closer to be within arms reach of both of us.

"Claney." I reached over and took the ring. "Repeat after me, 'With this ring, I thee wed.'"

"With this ring, I thee wed," I echoed. I took hold of her left hand and slid the ring over her slender finger. The gold stood out starkly from her blue skin.

"Zillah." I watched her reach over and pick up the band. "Same thing, repeat after me, 'With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed," she repeated, then took my hand and slid the ring on. Once she had completed the task, she held onto my hand.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride."

We looked at each other, both wearing large smiles. I leaned in, closing my eyes as my lips found hers, a soft, slow kiss. There was a loud cheer that I am pretty sure started with Celeste, and I broke the kiss with a laugh.

"All me to introduce to you, Mr. Claney Beamard and Mrs. Zillah Arvid-Beamard." That brought another round of applause from the small crowd, who rose to their feet.

There was an old custom among many old Earth civilizations of the woman taking the man's last name when they were married. Many people carried on with it. Zillah had considered it, as well as keeping her last name as a nod to Awoken traditions even though she had been rejected by them and was no longer seeking their approval. Instead, she decided on a compromise, something that reflected the divide that she had always felt.

I held out my left arm to her. She took hold of my elbow, and we walked down the aisle arm-in-arm, the first steps of a lifetime together. The other members of the wedding party paired up and fell in behind us as we walked out. Now that I felt like I could relax more, I was able to pick out some faces from the gathering. Kana-4, Dallyce, and Astrid were sitting together, Astrid looking a little grumpy about being there. Suraya Hawthorne and Devrim Kay. Eva Levante. Jayesh and Kari Khatri. Silvan Nerisis, but no sign of her father. Several people had made the trip from the Farm as well, as I recognized a number of people I'd work on various projects with.

There was a lot of standing around and shaking hands after that, thanking people for coming, people telling Zillah how beautiful she looked. When Zillah stepped aside to talk to Jayesh and Kari, whom she'd gotten to know in the aftermath of the Red War, Celeste sidled up next to me.

"When do we go to the reception? I'm ready to eat," she grumbled.

"Soon," I replied. "And you're not the only one, trust me."

Eventually, it was time and we moved on to the reception hall. I stopped and changed out of the armor first. It looked good for the ceremony, but wasn't the best choice for the remainder of the evening. Elgan stored it all away, and transmatted the suit I'd had purchased and had altered for the occasion. Once I rejoined everyone, we were guided to a table at the front of the room with six seats in a row, with Zillah and I placed in the center. The other guests all filtered in and found seats, and then the meal was served.

As everyone was finishing up eating, there was a sound to my right, something striking glass lightly. I looked over to see Caelan rising to his feet. He waited for sounds around the room to die out a bit, then began to speak.

"Hello. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Caelan-5. I was on Claney's first fireteam, so I've known him since shortly after his first resurrection. I don't know that I've ever seen a Guardian as clueless when it came to fighting before or since. In fact, one of the other members of the fireteam put, 'Only you can prevent friendly fire' on all of his guns. He has grown and changed a lot over the years. I hear he hasn't accidently shot himself in a few decades, so that's a good sign."

That brought a round of laughter from the room, and a burning sensation to my face. He continued.

"I could go into detail about some of the mistakes he made, but I won't. At least not now. If you really want to hear those, come find me in a few minutes. There are some things I will tell you about Claney, however. The first thing is that, in all the time I've known him, his primary drive has been protecting people. It's what makes him what he is. Another thing is, he has no business marrying someone as lovely as his bride. Really, Zillah, you could have done so much better.

"I'm kidding. Claney has the ability to be one of the best people you can ever hope to meet, and I am sure he will do everything he can to make your life together as good as it can be. I wish you two nothing but the best. To Claney and Zillah."

He raised his glass, an action that was matched by people all around, took a drink, then had a seat. Attention then seemed to shift to the other side of the table. I followed everyone's eyes, and saw Reena, who seemed to suddenly become aware of everyone looking at her. She looked around for a moment, then stood slowly.

"Uhm, hi," she began. "I'm Reena. Zillah is my aunt, but I didn't know her until a few years ago. You see, she and my mother were twins, but chose different paths in life. My mom came to Earth, while Zillah chose to stay among the stars. We connected recently, and I have been getting to know her, as some of you may already, and hopefully others will have the chance to.

"The woman I've gotten to know is intelligent and passionate. She fights for the things she wants, and the things she believes in. She has struggled with different things over the decades, and has come through it as an amazing person.

"She told me about Claney shortly after they began their relationship. She mentioned his kindness, his strength of character, and how much knowing him had helped her. If even half of what she said is true, I believe that they are destined to live a long and happy life together.

"Zillah, I look forward to getting to know you and your new husband better over the years and being part of your family."

There was a round of applause as she sat down, and her cheeks flushed a light purple. Once the food was gone, everyone encouraged Zillah and I to cut the cake. We made our way over to the cake, Elgan and Fievel in tow, and posed next to it for a few pictures. It was a large, multi-layered thing with shades of purple and blue that matched Zillah's normal armor shader.

"There's a common tradition of smashing some of the cake into the bride's face," Elgan noted as I prepared to cut the first piece.

"You'd better not," Zillah warned. I grinned at her. "I'm serious. Don't do it."

"I won't, don't worry," I said. I noticed a little piece of frosting that had fallen away from the cake where I cut it. "Maybe just this, though."

I scooped the stray frosting with my thumb, and wiped it on her nose. She glared at me for a second before getting a little frosting herself and tracing lines down my cheeks.

"There," she said smugly.

"It is an improvement," Elgan commented, so I took some of the cake and smeared it over his optic.

Cake was served and eaten, and then it was time for what most of the crowd had been waiting for. Dancing.

Most Guardians seem to love to dance. I'm not really sure why it is such a universal trait among us, but it is. Go anywhere you find Guardians, and you will see them dancing either alone or in small groups. If there's a lull in a mission, at the beginning and end of Crucible matches, anytime people are in the Tower, they start moving, whether or not there is music to follow. The only time I had noticed a lack of it had been during the Red War, but once hope returned with the plan to retake the City from the Cabal, it started back up again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome for their first dance as a married couple, Claney and Zillah."

We stood from our seats and stepped out onto the dance floor. Something slow began to play, with a man's voice singing, "There are countless stars in the sky tonight. And the city glows with a million lights, but of all this bright that I see tonight, you're the one I want…"

The lights dimmed, making the faint shimmer of Light beneath her skin shine. We turned to face each other. I placed my hands on Zillah's hips, while she put hers on my shoulders. We began to move in time with the song, swaying slowly back and forth. Eventually, other people began filling up the floor as well, couples moving around us, but I barely noticed them.

The singer continued, "There are countless memories lost, forgotten, thrown into the wind. There are countless words I wish I'd never said…"

"You are so beautiful," I said to her. "I can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with someone like you."

"I feel the same way," she replied. "Well, minus the 'beautiful' part."

I laughed a little at that, then leaned down, my forehead touching hers.

"There are countless explorations that I'm longing to begin. But you're the one I want. You're the one I want..."

We continued to move that way until that song ended. Afterward, something faster came on, and people began to pick up the pace and the dancing got a little more active. The rest of the evening was mostly a blur of bouncing bodies and more congratulations. A few things stood out from the rest.

At one point, Caelan had approached us, clearly having enjoyed a little too much of the synthetic alcohol substitute that had been created for Exos.

"You know," he said, bending over and banging his knuckles against the prosthetic of my left leg, "I could supe that thing up for you a bit. Add some features. Maybe miniature rocket launchers that pop out of the side. How great would that be? You'd be all, 'Leg missile!' and it would pop out and blow stuff up.

"Oh, or speaking of blowing things up, what about a self destruct feature? If you get surrounded, you could pull it off and throw it like a grenade. Oh! Or I could make it a drone, where it could detach and fly around blasting stuff. Pew, pew!"

Two other Guardians, Jayesh and Kari Khatri, had approached us at another moment. I met Kari many years ago, and Jayesh recently. Zillah had worked with each of them in some capacity as well over the years. They had gotten married shortly after the Red War, and shared some advice from something they had noticed in their own marriage.

"You may notice some changes in your Light," Jayesh said. "Kari and I have noticed it a bit. If your connection is strong enough, it might start mingling."

"We're both primarily attuned to the Void," Zillah replied. "How might that change?"

Jayesh shrugged. "Hard to say, other than possibly sharing Light and strengthening each other."

"You also might start being able to hear each other's Ghosts," Kari added. "It started happening with us, after we had been married for a while."

Zillah just eyed Elgan and sighed. The Ghost huffed his offense and phased out of sight. She smirked at the disappearance.

The night passed, and our time for using the space neared an end. We said our goodbyes and stepped outside into the chill night air. Once clear, we transmatted to the ship,ready to leave everything and everyone behind for a while.

…

**AN**

**Fun fact - Zillah's vows were the first thing I actually wrote for this story.**

**I typically have been posting on Fridays, but… early update this time. I have actually had the first five chapters of this story written for a couple months. Now that I am actually posting, my usual impatience is setting in, but I don't want to rush it out until I can continue the rest of it and keep with a schedule instead of my normal "just post whenever" method of updating.**

**Jayesh and Kari belong to NetRaptor. She also drew a fantastic bit of art depicting Claney and Zillah's wedding before I had actually written it that shaped the setting and attire of the characters in the chapter.**

"**Only you can prevent friendly fire," comes from the Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries from Schlock Mercenary.**

**The song Claney and Zillah dance to is "You're the One I Want" by Switchfoot.**

**And again, if you would consider donating to m n, I would greatly appreciate it. Support begins at just $1.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

We had considered off-planet destinations for our honeymoon, but there were drawbacks. Killer aliens and bad memories were the obvious problems. Lack of actual facilities to stay in were the other. I had to make sure the amenities were up to standard. No planned sleeping on the floor for this trip.

Outside of the Last City or the Farm, there weren't many options for safe places to just go and stay, so instead we stayed on the ship and spent the time travelling from place to place. We avoided any locations with known enemy activity and tried to just enjoy being on various worlds. The solar system is actually kind of nice when no one is actively trying to murder you.

Nicer still with someone you love by your side.

The two weeks passed far too quickly, and then it was back to the real world. We arrived at the Farm with no fanfare or welcome beyond one of the guards waving as he spotted us materialize in the square. Good. Wouldn't have wanted to draw a lot of attention anyway.

We walked hand-in-hand to the housing district. A few new places were in various states of construction. We moved past them until we reached the small home that had been mine. I looked at it, considering the size. It had been perfectly suitable for just me, but might be a tight fit long-term for two people. For now, though, it would work.

"Hold on," I said to her as we reached the door. "There's an old custom I read about once."

She stopped and looked at me expectantly. I opened the door, then turned to her, scooping her up in my arms. She slid her arms around my neck and gave me a quick kiss. I stepped through the open door, crossing the threshold, then nudged the door closed with my hip.

"I could get used to this," she said. "I might just start having you carrying me everywhere."

"That might make it a little hard to fight," I replied. "Unless I treat you like Efrideet did Saladin."

"I'll pass," she said with a laugh, then kissed me again, letting this one linger, before giving me a look I was quickly growing to recognize.

I grinned in response and carried her further into our home.

…

One nice thing about being a Guardian and having a Ghost who could transmat your stuff into some sort of pocket dimension for storage was not having to drag around heavy luggage. Fievel had been carrying some clothes and necessities for Zillah. We were able to clean up and change into fresh clothes before we reemerged.

"I need to see if my stuff is here yet," she said as we stepped outside. Most of her things had still been at the Tower, and she had set up to have them delivered while we were gone.

Before the engagement she had been splitting her time between the Farm and the Tower, staying with someone who had an empty room while she was here, and had only brought the bare essentials with her. After the engagement, she had considered moving to the Farm full time, but knowing that living arrangements would be changing again shortly convinced her not to.

Hand-in-hand again, we made out way to see the postmaster, Darbi 55-30. Darbi was a frame, a robot programmed to handle a specific task, with some intelligence. I would not advise ever mistaking them with Exos, despite the mechanical appearance and number at the end of the name. Frames were just machines with a programmed personality, where Exos were people.

"Hello," Darbi said in a mechanical voice that had a slightly feminine quality. "Checking, checking, checking. Oh dear, there seems to have been a problem."

"What problem?" Zillah asked.

"Package not delivered."

"What do you mean, 'not delivered'?" Zillah questioned, annoyance clear in her voice.

"Too much vehicle traffic at the Tower Hangar, delivery postponed."

"Too much traffic?"

Zillah held out her hand and Feivel emerged. "Any idea what is going on back at the Tower?" she asked.

"Let me check," he said. "Since you two weren't taking messages while you were gone, there's a bit of a backlog." After a couple seconds of silence he said, "There was an all Guardian alert and a mass mobilization. Something is happening on the Moon. Or, there was a couple days ago."

"Why didn't we hear about that? Shouldn't that have overridden any privacy settings?"

"It should have. I'm not sure why it didn't. There must have been some interference."

"That would have to be some strong interference," Zillah commented. "Any issues with long range communication again, like before the Red Legion hit us?"

"No," Fievel replied. "All communications check as clear presently."

"I do have a recording of the message," Elgan said as he materialized. "Let me play it for you."

There was a sound of crackling audio, then Commander Zavala's voice was heard calling out, "Attention all Guardians. Last night we detected a seismic disturbance on the Moon. Within hours it was swarming with Hive. This plague must not be allowed to spread."

"Is there more?" I asked.

"No, that's all I got. Anything beyond that must have been addressed to specific Guardians or teams."

Why would Zavala call for every Guardian to go to the Moon? The Hive must be up to something big. Of course, it was impossible not to think of the last time that nearly every Guardian had gone there to face the Hive.

"Reach out to Whisper and connect me to Celeste, it seems like we need to get caught up a bit."

Elgan went silent for several moments again. When he came back, there was an odd edge to his voice.

"I can't reach them."

I looked at the Ghost. His shell was twisting in a pattern that I recognized as concentration. There was a hint of confusion in there as well.

"I tried again," he said. "Still nothing. I can't reach Celeste, Kana, Tanton, or Dallyce."

"Fievel, see if you can," Zillah said.

"Nothing," her Ghost replied after a few seconds.

"What about Astrid?" I asked, a sense of dread settling in. "Can you get ahold of Celli?"

"I've got her," Elgan said after a second.

"Hello?" the voice of the young Sunbreaker came through the comm line.

"Astrid? It's Claney."

"Oh, hey Claney, how are you?" she replied, a happy note in her voice that soon gave way to a teasing tone. "How was your honeymoon?"

"I'm… I'm fine," I replied. "It was good, thanks. Hey, is Celeste around?"

"No, she went on a mission. I'm with John and Sus… I mean, Mr. and Mrs. Anusky."

"Have you heard from her at all?"

"No," she answered. "She doesn't check in on me as much as she used to. I'm not a kid anymore, you know."

"That's true," I replied. It was hard to believe sometimes that the little girl that Cayde-6 had asked Celeste to help care for was a teenager now. It was harder still to keep the rising panic from my voice. "Well, if you do hear from her, just let her know I was trying to get ahold of her, okay?"

"Sure thing."

She closed the connection and it felt like a pit opened up in the bottom of my stomach. My legs suddenly felt weak. I reached out and put my hand on Darbi's workstation to steady myself, and keep myself from sinking to the ground.

"Claney?" Zillah sounded worried. She stepped toward me and put a hand on my arm. "What's wrong?"

"She's gone," I managed to get out. "She went to the Moon and she's gone."

I had a flash of memory then, working with Celeste before she was allowed out in the field, training her to fight. She was complaining about combat training and not working with the Light. I warned her then to stay away from the Moon. I hadn't told her why at the time, about how the Moon had taken my first fireteam. And now it has taken my daughter too.

"You don't know that," she said.

"Elgan can't reach anyone on the team. Astrid hasn't heard from her. What else am I supposed to think?"

"It could just be interference," she said. "It happens. We missed the all Guardian call. Maybe they're just below the surface. There are several reasons she might be out of contact."

The blind panic receded as Zillah spoke. I looked up at my wife then, my eyes finding hers, seeking some sort of reassurance, and finding it. I felt a brief moment of shame at my reaction. I should be stronger than that. I would need to be stronger if something had happened.

"You're probably right," I said. "Sorry. I'm good now."

She was looking at me hard, giving me a searching, studying look. She knew about what happened during the Great Disaster, of course, I had told her about everything that happened then and after. I forced my face into a calm mask, pushing down any remnants of the fear and helplessness that had been clawing at me.

"I'm good now," I repeated, then changed my focus. "Elgan, you said we had messages. Were any of them from Celeste?"

"Yes," he replied. "There are several."

"From around the same time as that all call from Zavala or later?"

"Two."

I took a sharp breath. "Play them."

Celeste's voice played through the communication line, "Hey, Old Man. Something's going on on the Moon. Hive are getting all uppity. Zavala is sending everyone to deal with it, so I'm sure you probably heard. Don't know if this will get through to you, but I was just going to give you a head's up. We'll probably have the problem all cleaned up by the time you get home. See ya."

I nodded. Nothing to be concerned about there.

"Next."

My daughter's voice came through, this time there was a more ragged note to it. "Hey, dad. There's… there's something weird going on here. I… I don't know how to even try to explain it. I just… I'm sorry."

Silence.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Yes," Elgan replied.

Sorry? For what? What had happened up there?

"What do you want to do now?" Zillah asked.

"Want to do?" I asked. "I want to personally rip the worm out of every Hive on the Moon with my bare hands and then tear it apart stone-by-stone until I find my daughter. But I'll settle for going to the Tower and finding out what is going on first."

"Probably a good choice," she said, then took my face in her hands. "We'll find her. And when we do, I will help you rend the Hive to their base components if they have so much as laid a finger on her."

I closed my eyes and bent my head, resting my forehead against hers. I placed my hands on her hips. We stayed that way for several seconds while I calmed my mind.

"I need to get my armor and weapons," I said, "then I'll be ready to go."

"Most of mine is still at the Tower," she said. "We'll have to split up for a few minutes when we get there."

I nodded and opened my eyes. A sound behind me caused me to turn my head, and I saw Darbi watching us with the blank stare of a frame. When I made eye contact, it shifted again.

"Your mailbox is empty," it said in a cheery tone.

I couldn't help but bark a laugh of disbelief at the complete detachment from what was happening around it. Stepping away from Zillah, I walked home as quick as I could. Zillah stood to the side as I changed, removing the casual clothing and slipping on the body suit that I wore under my armor. She watched as I strapped on each piece, wordlessly offering assistance that was not needed but welcome when I strapped on the cuirass. I pulled my helmet down over my head and held out my hand, and Elgan appeared. I had him store my Last Perdition pulse rifle, Toil and Trouble shotgun, and Avalanche machine gun.

"Let's go," I said, and saw Zillah summon Fievel.

We transmatted to our individual ships and set course for the Tower. I watched the scenery streak by, trying to distract my mind and keep it from spiraling too far down into imagining all the horrible things that could have happened to my daughter and her team. Thankfully, the flight from the Farm to the Tower doesn't take long in a Guardian's ship.

When we arrived, the Courtyard looked much like it always did. Rahool was in his place to the right, offering to decipher engrams or talk the ear off anyone who would listen. Guardians and civilians alike moved to and fro, talking or working on various tasks. To the left, Tess Everis was trying to hawk her wares. I scoffed at her trying to tell a would-be customer that the Red Legion had run from her.

There was one thing out of place. Commander Zavala was not standing in his usual position looking out over the Last Safe City. That meant he was likely in the war room. Meaning whatever had been going on was still happening.

"I'm going to get my gear, then come find you," Zillah said. "Keep lines open and don't leave the Tower without me."

"Okay."

"Elgan," she called out. "I'm serious. Don't let him leave without me."

"I won't," the Ghost said.

Zillah gave me a lingering look, then took off at a jog. Elgan buzzed around my head, then stopped to hover just over my shoulder.

"Since when do you listen to her?" I asked him.

He twirled his shell as he replied, "Ever since you decided to make this a permanent arrangement. It's nice not being the only voice of reason around."

I set off toward the Vanguard's new command center, or war room. It was a level down below the Courtyard. I took the first set of stairs down, went inside, and followed the hall until I found my way there. As expected, Commander Zavala was there with Ikora Rey, Warlock Vanguard. There was no Hunter Vanguard. Cayde-6 had been dead for a little over a year now, but they had not replaced him. Just like there had never been a replacement for the Speaker after the Red War, which was several years past now. Soon, it seemed, we'd have no leadership around the Tower.

There were other Guardians and workers in the room, either watching the Vanguard or manning various stations. I was a little surprised to notice one of those Guardians was Kieron Morgan, a Titan I had trained who had a penchant for saying exactly the wrong thing. He also held something of a grudge against me for letting Astrid immolate him a few times as part of that training. Commander Zavala turned to the door when we entered, and I thought I saw something flash through the stoic features of his face. The Awoken man straightened up and nodded in our direction.

"Claney," he stated in his deep voice.

"Commander," I replied, trying to remain calm.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked.

"I think you know exactly why I'm here."

He sighed and turned away from me, falling silent. I took a step toward him and was about to say something, when he said, "Yes, I do. You're here about the disappearance of Fireteam Painted Truth."

There it was. Zillah had tried to offer other possibilities, I had tried to not think about it, but now it had been said out loud. Now it was real.

They were gone. She was gone.

"Yes," I said quietly.

Zavala turned to face me again. "I sent everyone we had to the Moon in order to curb a drastically growing Hive threat. While there, Guardians began reporting strange sightings, many claiming to see ghosts of dead teammates or enemies. Painted Truth was investigating one of these reports when they went dark.

"I sent another team to locate them, but they were unable to find any trace of them beyond their last known location. We then had to recall the rescue team to avoid further losses. I fear Painted Truth may be lost to us."

"You gave up on them?" I asked, shocked.

"We were forced to withdraw," he said. "No one has given up on anyone."

"You don't know the situation up there, Claney," Kieron added.

I glared at him, "Shut up, Kieron. I didn't ask for your input."

"You never do," he shot back. "Always think you can solve everything."

"I can solve one problem by throwing you through that window," I said, taking a step in his direction.

"Guardians…" Zavala said, a warning hint in his tone.

"Sorry, sir," I replied, composing myself. "I request permission to take a team to the Moon to try to locate Painted Truth."

"Denied," the commander replied, his voice cool. "I will send another team to investigate, but your… emotional attachment to the situation could compromise your judgement in this matter. We don't need another situation developing like the Dreaming City."

"But sir-" I began, but he cut me off.

"That will be all, Guardian," he said, and turned away from me again, his attention shifting to something on a computer monitor.

Kieron actually smirked at me. I clenched my fists, then whirled and stormed out of the command center before I did something stupid. I had stupid things to do other places, after all.

"Elgan, locate Zillah," I said to my Ghost through our connection.

"She is on her way here," he replied.

"Tell her not to bother, I'll come to her. We're done here."

"And where are we going?"

"To the Moon, Alice," I replied. "Start finding out every piece of information you can about what is happening up there."

"Alice?"

…

**AN**

**And now we get the story proper rolling.**

**Last week ended up being funny timing. I had not intentionally started posting this story for the wedding chapter to happen on Valentine's week. Between that, and posting the first chapter of These Walls Grown Cold unintentionally on the person I wrote it for's birthday, it was a week of fun writing related coincidences.**

**This is the last chapter I have fully pre-written. Originally there were 8, but I didn't like the way things were going and deleted 7 and 8 on purpose. Then I accidentally deleted 6, and it just vanished into the ether. 5 is mostly done, but has a big hole that needs to be filled. I will work to keep the chapter a week update schedule rolling.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"He said what?" Zillah asked, notes of disbelief and shock in her voice.

We stood in a corridor leading from the Courtyard to the main hangar. Not exactly a secretive spot, but the fact that one side was open to the air would keep sounds from echoing around too much. Zillah stalked back and forth, while I leaned against the wall. Our Ghosts were both out, Elgan floating near my shoulder and Feivel twitching back and forth as he watched his Guardian pace.

"He said no," I replied. "That I couldn't go and find my daughter, that my judgement would be compromised."

"But, we're going to go and do it anyway, right?"

"Yes."

"Good," she said.

"Your Guardian's penchant for running off and doing stupid things is rubbing off on my Guardian," Feivel said to Elgan.

"Maybe they'll keep each other out of too much trouble," my Ghost replied. "Besides, this time I actually agree with him."

"Seems there really is a first time for everything," I said.

Zillah stopped her pacing. "Are we going to try to get a team together?"

"No," I shook my head. "This is going to be an unsanctioned mission, going directly against Vanguard orders. There are likely to be… repercussions. I wouldn't want to drag anyone else down with me. With us."

"Hmph, so you're willing to just throw me into the fire with you?"

"For better or for worse," I replied.

"If you'll recall, I said my own vows," she said with a smirk. "That wasn't in them."

"Good point. Guess I'll go alone then," I said, straightening and moving away from the wall.

"Don't you even think about it," she jabbed a finger against my chestplate.

"Then let's get going."

We walked the rest of the way to the hangar, boarded our ships, and left. When asked for a flight plan, we claimed we were returning to the Farm. No need to advertise the fact that we were thumbing our noses at the Vanguard. I'm sure they'd hear about it soon enough.

At first, we flew in the direction of the EDZ and the Farm, but once we were a decent distance away, we changed course for the Moon. I couldn't help but feel a little unease as we broke through the atmosphere and sped toward the silver-white orb. The Moon held few good memories and a lot of bad ones. Being part of the Great Disaster and seeing teammates die. Being shot at by a Hunter in what was the beginning of a series of encounters that ended with him dead and me missing a leg.

Despite that, it was still beautiful hanging there and I could see why it had so captured the imaginations of people in the past.

"Okay, Elgan," I said, "Fill us in."

"It all started with rumors of Eris Morn sightings around the Tower," he said. Figures that she would be involved if we were dealing with the Hive. "She had been spotted coming and going from the command center, then disappeared again. It seems that some seismic disturbances were recorded on the Moon after that."

"Sounds like what happened before the Disaster," I said. Seismic fluctuations were one of the things that Eriana had used in her evidence for Hive activity.

"Close," the Ghost replied, then continued. "Shortly after that is when something known as the 'Scarlet Keep' appeared, and Hive began swarming over Guardian positions on the Lunar surface and distress calls were sent out. That was when Zavala sent out the message that we heard before.

"It seems Eris is now on the Moon directing Guardians in the fight against the Hive, as well as hunting things people are referring to as Nightmares. Whatever they are, they seem to take the form of formerly dead enemies re-emerging, or even… dead Guardians? There's also some vague information about a large Pyramid under the surface. Some of this is hard to make sense of."

"Sounds like it," I replied. "Maybe we'll be able to wrap our heads around it more once we actually see it. We'll be there soon enough." Whatever it was, I had no doubt that I could handle a few nightmares. Wouldn't be the first time.

We flew in low and transmatted to the surface, our ships then following a pre-planned path back up to low orbit. Once I was on solid footing again, I glanced around. I noticed several stations set up in the area, as well as numerous armed frames set up as sentries. They weren't what held my attention, however. Instead, it was the ghosts.

I really didn't know what else to call them. Red, spectral images that looked like Guardians in out-dated armor, armor of a very specific era in the City's history. The Great Disaster.

One of the spectres turned its head toward me and floated in my direction before dissipating into nothingness. Several more hung around the area, usually in ones or twos, but there was a larger congregation in one spot. Five of the phantoms hung over a figure that I recognized instantly. Eris Morn.

The ghostly forms seemed to close in on the strange Hunter. She glanced up from what she was doing to look at them, swiped her hand through the air as if waving them away, then looked back down. She did not look up when we approached.

"Your footsteps are heavy, Titan," she muttered.

"Eris," I said as a greeting. The five phantasms shifted their focus to Zillah and I for a few seconds, before turning their gaze back to Eris Morn.

"Is there a reason for your visit?" Eris asked.

"I'm looking for someone," I said. "My daughter and her team, Painted Truth."

That drew a reaction from Eris. She drew in a hissing breath and turned her face toward me, her three gauze-shrouded eyes glowing brightly, her body still hunched. Her head tilted, and then she straightened up, still staring at me.

"Yes, the missing fireteam. I am… aware of them," she said finally. Like me, like many Guardians that had lived as long as I had, Eris had suffered here on the Moon. Her greatest suffering had come after the Disaster, however, when she was part of a team that had tried to assassinate the Hive god, Crota. She had been the only survivor, and had been trapped in darkness for years before finding her way out. A fireteam missing on the Moon probably hit close to home.

"Do you know what happened to them?" I asked.

"I have my… suspicions," she replied. "There is a strong Darkness here that shrouds much of what goes on, however." She gestured at the apparitions that hung around her.

"What are those?" Zillah asked.

"Old scars. Phantoms of my fireteam, brought up by the Darkness here, like so many others. I wonder what shadows of your past will confront you while you are here? What whispers will come out of the Darkness to plague your thoughts?"

"Painted Truth?" I cut in, trying to get back to our reason for being here.

"Yes," Eris said, dragging out the word in a sibilant hiss. "They were hunting Nightmares when they went dark. I tried searching for them, tried to grab their sparks and pull them from the depths, but I was unsuccessful. Search for them beneath Sorrow's Harbor."

"What is Sorrow's Harbor?" Zillah asked.

Eris tilted her head toward her and stared. It was hard to know what, if anything, the Hunter actually saw with those eyes she had stolen from the Hive so long ago. Her head was tilted at an odd angle, as if more listening than seeing.

"It is as the name suggests, a haven for great suffering and anguish," Eris replied.

With that, she turned back to whatever she had been doing, seemingly putting us out of her mind. She only looked up again to snarl at one of the phantoms hanging around her head. I stepped away, and Zillah followed.

"Elgan, show me where I can find Sorrow's Harbor."

A map of the local region was superimposed over my HUD, showing our current location, and the local area. Sorrow's Harbor was a section northeast of the Hellmouth. Deep in Hive controlled territory, and the location of the fiercest reported fighting presently.

"Well, this should be a fun trip," I grumbled.

"The fastest route is through the Anchor of Light," Elgan said, unnecessarily. "Though the longer route is a little easier to traverse via sparrow."

"Or," Feivel commented, "we could just have our Guardians fly in and transmat down. There is a beacon there."

"Well, yes, I can see that," Elgan huffed. "I was about to get to it."

Feivel scoffed at that, which sent Elgan's shell spinning.

"I would prefer to go in by Sparrow," I said, "so we can get a look at what we're getting ourselves into before we are right in the middle of it."

"Sounds like a plan," Zillah said, then summoned her sparrow. "Shall we?"

I called for my sparrow as well, climbing on when it appeared, then set off. There was a trail leading away from the landing zone. Clearly a number of Guardians had been travelling through the area recently. The trail cut through a stone arch before crossing a bridge that seemed to have been hastily erected over a chasm that glowed with an eerie green light.

"Elgan, what is that?" I asked. We'd been to Luna many times. We'd passed through this area more than once. There had been nothing like this.

"Remember when we said there had been seismic disturbances?"

"Yes."

Elgan replied with a beep I recognized as the electronic equivalent of shrugging and pointing to everything around you.

"What in the Traveler's name have the Hive been doing?" I asked.

"Unknown," he replied, answering my rhetorical question as usual. This time, I didn't offer a reply back.

The trail continued from the bridge, rocky walls running alongside our route until they fell away again as another gap opened in the surface of the planetoid. This time, curiosity got the better of me and I stopped the sparrow and climbed off. I strode over to the metal barricade someone had put up to keep drivers from going over the side and glanced down.

The combination of the bright green glow and fog that was spilling from the chasm made it hard to see very far down. I held out my hand, and Elgan emerged, sweeping a beam over the area and scanning it. Fievel emerged and did the same.

"Do not go down there," Elgan stated.

"Hadn't planned on it," I replied.

"This gas is corrosive and highly toxic," Fievel stated. "Survivability of an egress as this location is next to zero."

"Got it," Zillah said. "Do not go down there."

"Hey, that's what I said," Eglan commented.

The Ghosts took another moment to scan the area again, and then it was back to sparrows. The trail continued until opening up into the area known as the Anchor of Light. There was an old base here, from the Golden Age. Most of it was destroyed, but some ruins remained. Near here is where Aasim-7, an Exo Hunter, had first entered the Temple of Crota several years ago, an event that eventually led to his defeating the monster. Here there were more signs of the seismic devastation, with cracks in the ground and more ramshackle bridges. The presence of some Fallen made me wonder who had put them up.

It was a small group, two Dregs and a Vandal. Easy to deal with. They opened fire on us almost as soon as we emerged, the shots from the Vandal's trace rifle trying to track our movements. We disembarked and dealt with them quickly.

That was when I heard the voice.

"This is Fireteam Alpha. Does anyone read me?"

"Elgan, what channel is that coming through on?" I asked. "Put me through."

"It's not a signal," the Ghost replied, a puzzled tone in his voice.

"Then where-" I began, but the voice sounded again.

"Please, does anyone copy? We're being overrun. They're… they're everywhere!"

"I heard it too," Zillah said, "but it's not coming from the comm lines. It's here."

"How? There's nothing here."

A third time, I heard the voice. "Please! Someone. Anyone!"

This time, I was able to track the sound. There was a red figure in Guardian armor crouched underneath an overhang, hands held in front of it as if warding off some unseen foe. One of the phantoms.

"Can it… see us?" Elgan asked, flitting back and forth in front of the apparition. It gave no sign of being aware of his movements.

"Help me, please!" the thing begged again, and then vanished.

I stood in place, staring at the spot the phantom had occupied. Fireteam Alpha. I knew I had heard that distress call before. I knew exactly when as well.

"Let's keep going," I managed through clenched teeth.

Once more on sparrows, once more following the path other Guardians had clearly followed. More of the apparitions appeared, calling for help. Screaming about being overrun. I tried to ignore every last one of them.

The path we followed came near the Hellmouth. This was a hole in the ground I was actually familiar with, an opening that dropped deep into the former domain of Crota. We were only near it briefly before taking a sharp right through an area that was not as familiar. Maybe a path that had recently opened, like the cracks in the ground? We passed through a tunnel, glowing stone providing light. There were cobweb-like materials scattered along the length of the wall in many places.

The tunnel opened suddenly, revealing a ruined landscape of jutting stone and red structures of unknown purpose. There were small barrier walls throughout the area as well. Rising above it all, I could see a red tower. This must be the Scarlet Keep.

All around, I detected friendly tags, Guardians who were here battling the Hive. In many places, green bulbs of energy stood, shining upward. These seemed to be the primary draw of the other Guardians' attentions. Seeing them fighting, I felt like I should help, but that would alert people to our presence and distract us from our mission, so we pressed forward. We approached the keep, entering a space of high, red walls. We pushed forward, watching for attack, until we found an open door.

We entered the Hive lair. Their architecture was recognizable instantly, from the high ceilings, which seemed like a lot of work when you were mostly building underground, with gothic style designs reminiscent of a cathedral etched out of the rock, the whole thing flowing and organized, and looking vaguely alive. There were the usual biological signs of Hive activity as well. Several chains and hooks dangling from the ceiling in the corridor.

One of the ghosts made an appearance here, hovering in the air as if snared on one of the hooks. It stayed perfectly still, not acknowledging our presence at all, until we passed under it, at which point it faded away.

"I'm getting really tired of seeing those things," Zillah commented.

"You and me both," I replied.

At the bend in the corridor, another of the red apparitions was floating over a pile of Hive spoor. Like so many others, this one didn't move, just hanging silent until it disappeared. As we passed the spot, I thought I caught a glimpse of a skull peeking out of the Hive leavings.

The hallway opened into a larger room, somewhat circular in shape, with a walkway higher up. I could just make out a door up there, and another stood to our right as we entered. Columns blocked some of the view. I stepped further into the room, looking to make sure there weren't any Hive waiting in ambush. There was something, but it certainly wasn't Hive. A large, red, amorphous shape hung in the air, swirling and fluctuating, letting off a sickly glow.

"What is that?" I asked Elgan.

The Ghost emerged from phase and scanned the blob. "I have no idea."

"I would not advise getting overly close," Feivel said.

I nodded, but took a few steps closer, not quite close enough to be able to touch it. Suddenly, the thing shifted, the glow and shape both changing. Something seemed to coalesce inside it, then there was a flash, and a solid figure stood where the mass had been. A figure I recognized instantly, even though that was impossible.

Jaeger-10 stood as I had last seen him, corrupted and eaten away by SIVA, his body covered in shiny black armor, the ruin of his left arm having been replaced by the extendable shield weapon.

"It can't be…" I heard Zillah whisper behind me.

Jaeger's head whipped in our direction at the sound of her voice. Without a sound, he lashed out with his left arm, which expanded and sprung at me.

…

**AN**

**It's been a little while since I've updated this one. Clearly I didn't keep the "chapter a week" idea rolling. Sorry about that. As you can see with the recent update of These Walls Grown Cold, I'm trying to get back to my stories. Thanks for sticking with me.**

**Beyond just this, it seems like the world is going crazy right now. I hope you are safe, wherever you are.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I was too stunned at the sudden appearance to avoid the attack and the shield struck me, setting off several alerts on my HUD and knocking me down. I managed to recover and roll out of the way before the follow up attack. Jaeger had leapt at me, stabbing downward with the lance that protruded from where his other arm had been. He stayed crouched, glaring at me.

"It seems these shadows can do more than just float around," Elgan stated unnecessarily. I ignored him and looked at my attacker.

Jaeger-10 had been a Guardian, a Hunter. He'd attacked me, driven by something I still don't fully understand. We had clashed several times, usually instigated by him, before I thought he had been killed. Instead, he had been remade by a Golden Age nanotechnology called SIVA, and had tried to infect a colony of Vex with it. We fought, with the SIVA rebuilding him on the fly, covering him in armor plating, or turning wounds into weapons. Eventually, I had stopped him, but at great cost.

And now, here he was again. Other than a faint red haze that seemed to cover his entire body, he looked exactly the same as he had before my ship, the Invictus, had crashed down on top of him. Staring at him, I began to feel phantom pains in my left leg, something I hadn't experienced for a few years now.

Shots rang out, the familiar staccato of a pulse rifle's three-round burst. Zillah had opened fire, still using a Reef-manufactured weapon she'd had for years. It must have been on her ship when the Cabal attacked the City, or else it would have been lost with the vault. Jaeger flinched, then brought the shield up to deflect the next burst.

He stood, seemingly unfazed by the assault, then rushed forward, drawing back his right arm to strike. As he lunged, Zillah dodged to the side, then unleashed a blast of Void energy from her hand that struck Jaeger and knocked the phantasm down. The Jaeger-thing rolled and sprung up, rushing her again. Zillah jumped back, using Light to propel herself and glided away.

I ran toward them, building momentum. As Zillah leapt back, I launched myself forward, building a Void shield between me and my target. I slammed into Jaeger's back hard, and there was an explosion of energy that threw him forward, leaving him sprawled out on the ground.

The phantom Jaeger stood back to its feet, glowing a darker shade of red, and whirled about, flinging the shield arm in my direction again. This time, I avoided it. Grabbing the Toil and Trouble shotgun from my back, I fired. At the same moment, I heard Zillah opening fire again as well. Our shots struck the phantasm, and seemed to bounce off harmlessly.

"Fievel?" Zillah asked.

"The phantasm seems to have changed its properties," her Ghost replied. "Your weapons cannot penetrate it."

"Well that's just not fair," Zillah said, and shot Jaeger again, and again the bullets fell uselessly to the ground.

There was a sound similar to the one that accompanied a transmat, followed by loud shrieking. A split second later, Hive Thrall began pouring into the room from every direction, with some of them appearing out of thin air.

I think I've made my dislike for the Hive readily apparent in the past. The Darkness worshiping Worm spawn had killed too many people I cared about, tried too hard to wipe the Light and Guardians from existence to ever receive mercy from me. Thrall were the weakest of the Hive forces, but worked to overwhelm you with numbers. It looked like a wave of desiccated corpses rushing at you, each one shrieking to devour the Light you possessed.

"I don't think these are normal Hive," Elgan stated.

"No, they are not," Fievel replied. "They are clearly composed of the same material as our other opponent."

"Doesn't really matter what they are," I said. The first of the Thrall reached me, and I shot it in the face with my shotgun, the black and orange weapon kicking hard in my hands. "They look like Hive and they're trying to kill us. Something about looking like a duck and walking like a duck." I shot the second, and the third. "Die like the real things too," I muttered. The next was on me before I had time to bring the weapon to bear, so I punched it.

When I struck the Thrall, it burst apart, and some sort of red ichor spewed from it, splattering over my armor. Almost as soon as it landed, it began evaporating, leaving no visible trace.

"That… gunk," Elgan said. "It's doing something. Marking you in some way."

"Is that good or bad?"

"I don't know. It reminds me of something, give me a moment."

"Easier said than done," I replied, catching another Thrall as it threw itself at me, swinging around to slam the creature to the ground before bringing my shotgun to bear and blasting it apart.

"Claney!" Zillah cried out, and I looked up in time to see Jaeger lunging for me, trying to stab me with his right arm. I managed to avoid the thrust. Beyond him, I could see Zillah getting swarmed by Thrall.

I fired another shot into Jaeger, and again it seemed to bounce off. I avoided a swipe from his shield arm. Desperate to get past him and help Zillah, I slapped the gun to my back and grabbed the phantom. Wrenching as hard as I could, I yanked him off his feet and threw him in the opposite direction of my wife. As I did that, there was a flash of brilliant Light.

Thrall flew in every direction, and Zillah rose from their midst with wings of fire trailing from her back, a flaming sword in her hand. A natural Voidwalker, Zillah had worked hard over the last few years at trying to master other elements of Light. I'd try to take credit, saying my finally harnessing Solar Light when we retook the City had been the impetus for her to do that, but many Guardians had found it easier to learn different disciplines now that the Traveler was waking. For Zillah, that manifested in Solar Light, feeding off the current of anger that still ran underneath the surface.

With a shout, Zillah soared into the air, as high as the room would allow, her flame lighting the space around her. She swung her sword in sharp arcs, each strike sending a wave of flame streaking toward the Hive, burning them to the ground. The Thrall screamed as they died, and Zillah turned her attention to Jaeger.

"Burn!" she shouted, and fire streaked toward the phantom, with obvious effect. Whatever had allowed his invulnerability moments ago seemed to have faded.

"The ectoplasm!" Elgan announced excitedly. "The stuff from the Phantom Thrall. She's covered in it. I said it felt familiar. Remember when we were in the EDZ and had to deal with that large blight? The one the Warlock came out of?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we had to step into those weird bubbles first and pick up their 'essence' for lack of a better word. This is the same. Getting coated in that gunk attunes you to whatever the phantom did."

"So we need the red goop to kill him?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Done."

I found a couple Thrall that had taken shelter, trying to hide from Zillah's Light. Building up a charge of Void energy, I punched one, allowing the energy to release through my fist. It exploded in a flash of purple that chained through the second one, sparking another detonation. I saw some of the red stuff splatter on my armor again. Before it could evaporate, I grabbed my gun and raced toward Jaeger. As soon as I was close enough, I opened fire.

Under the combined assault of Zillah's flame and my weapon's fire, the thing parading itself as Jaeger wilted and ran for cover. We hounded him, refusing to let him recover. Eventually he disintegrated, disappearing without a trace. Zillah floated to the ground, the fire dying out from around her. She stalked toward me, and jabbed me in the chest with her finger.

"You never should have sent me away," she snapped, her voice heavy with emotion. Anger, but something else as well.

When I had fought Jaeger, the real Jaeger, I had sent everyone else to deal with the Vex situation, but Zillah had refused to leave. When it became obvious that it was going to take extreme measures to put him down, I had Elgan transmat her to safety. At least partly because of that, she left shortly after, spending time at the colony of pacifist Lightbearers with Lady Efrideet.

"I know," I said.

She stood, expression unreadable under her helmet, but I recognized the posture. Body tight, fists clenched. From the angle of her head, I knew she was glaring at me.

"You shouldn't have done it," she said again, pointing at me. "If you hadn't…" she trailed off, then whirled away, letting out an indecipherable noise, taking several steps away, turning her head to where Jaeger had been. "How do they do it?"

I blinked at the sudden change of topic. "Do what?"

"How do these things know exactly what to appear as to push our buttons? Think about it. Eris is haunted by her dead fireteam. There are specters of dead Guardians out on the surface. That thing showed up as Jaeger, something that specifically would target both of us. Not just something that would affect you or me, but both of us. How do they do it?"

"I don't know," I answered.

"I hate it," she said, and shivered slightly, "having something in my head like that. The worst part is, I can't even feel it. Before Jaeger, when we dealt with the Transmission crisis, I could feel my defenses being torn down, but was powerless to stop it. With these things, they're somehow in my head, and there's not a blasted thing I can do to keep them out."

"I wish I had an answer," I said, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing lightly. "But whatever they try to drag out and show us, we'll be able to face it together. And if we keep tearing apart their Nightmares, maybe they'll take the hint."

She turned, placing the faceplate of her helmet against my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her. We stood that way for several moments, a small bit of comfort in that Hive fortress full of Darkness. She released first, and I let her move away. We continued on in silence.

It was a good question she had asked, though that typically went without saying. Hers always were. How did the phantoms know what forms to take? What was powering them, letting them form in the first place? I had a strong feeling that Eris knew more than she had let on. She did warn us that they would dredge up shadows from the past. If our hunt proved fruitless here, it might be worthwhile to talk to her again.

We saw more of the ghosts hovering over us as we walked through the corridor, more of the dead Guardians. All of them were in armor dating back to the Great Disaster, just like the ones on the surface. A few turned their heads slowly, marking our passing. Some floated a little closer. I resisted the urge to take a shot at them.

The corridor opened up into a larger room. This room was a rough circle, hewn from the rock. It was also empty, which was a small blessing. Usually, walking into a room like this meant a firefight. There were two corridors that branched out from the room, spread out equally from each other and the one we emerged from.

"Any clue which way to go?" I asked, holding out my hand.

Elgan emerged, his shell twitching. The Ghost darted around the room, sweeping a beam of light around as he did. After a moment, he said, "I don't detect anything that would be a clue."

"Great."

"I have nothing either," Feivel announced.

"So, how do we decide which way to go?" Zillah asked. "Flip a coin?"

"No," I replied. "No coins."

I stepped forward, looking between the two, not sure what I hoped to notice that the Ghosts hadn't picked up. There was nothing, of course. Time to just decide. Pity we didn't have a bigger team we could have split to check both.

"We'll go right," I said. "Elgan, make sure to map our progress so we can double back to try the other if we need to. Keep scanning all Guardian and Vanguard channels as well." He chirped an affirmative, and we set off.

The opening to the right turned out to be another short passage that connected to another room similar to the one we left. This one, however, was not empty. Several Thrall crouched in the center of the room, feeding on something on the ground in the center of the round chamber. As we entered, one of the corpse-like aliens lifted its head and looked in our direction. It let out a shriek, and the rest looked our way as well, and then they came for us.

These did not have the red glow of the ones we had faced while fighting Jaeger. No phantoms, just your garden variety Light devouring alien horrors. With no stronger Hive to provide distracting fire or give them directions, they made for easy pickings. We cut them down easily as they rushed us mindlessly.

We continued on after dealing with the Thrall, fruitlessly searching through more rooms and hallways, dealing with the occasional grouping of Hive. I barely slowed as we tore through them, using my fists and shotgun to deal with them as quickly as I could, always searching for signs of Celeste and her team, moving on when there was nothing to find. We cleared at least six or seven rooms in the same manner, and it was getting us nowhere. Just as we were about to pass through another similar archway, Elgan piped up.

"I'm picking up something."

"Celeste?" I asked, perking up.

"No, but it is a Vanguard signal. Two, actually." Two friendly markers appeared on my HUD.

"Down here?" Zillah asked. "Who would be down here?"

"That is an excellent question," I said. "But they clearly know we're here. For Elgan not to see them until they were this close, they must have been masking themselves for some reason."

"Okay," she replied, trepidation obvious in her voice. "Why would they do that?"

"Let's find out," I said, and strode forward.

I stepped into yet another similar room, but this time, was not met with Hive or Nightmares. Instead, there were two Guardians, both immediately recognizable. One of them was a welcome if slightly confusing sight, the other was not.

"Hello, Claney," Kieron Morgan said, a smug tone evident in his voice.

"Kieron," I acknowledged and turned to his companion. "Lord Aasim. Fancy meeting you here."

"Zavala sent us," Kieron said, stepping forward. "To bring you back to the Tower."

"Did he now?"

"Yes. He knows you well enough to know that you weren't going to listen when he told you not to come here."

"And he sent you?"

"Oh, no," the other Titan replied. "I volunteered. Zavala suggested I bring Aasim with me, though. If you won't listen to reason or the Vanguard, he figured your respect for the Iron Lords might get you to listen to him."

The Iron Lords. An ancient order of Risen that essentially led to there being a group known as Guardians. Aasim-7 had assisted Lord Saladin, the last of the Iron Lords, and been named the first of a new breed of the order.

"This true?" I asked the Exo Hunter. He nodded. I asked, "Did either of them tell you why I am here?"

"For your daughter," he replied. "Her and her missing team. I am aware of the situation, and have actually looked for them myself, to no avail."

"Thank you for that," I said. "So you have to know I'm not going to leave willingly."

"Good," Kieron said, and sparks of Arc energy began sparking around his fists.

"Quiet, whelp," Aasim snapped, and Kieron staggered like he had been struck. The young Titan snapped his attention to the Iron Lord, who turned his head slowly to face him. "Stand down."

"Commander Zavala ordered them to be brought back," he argued.

"And I do not answer to Commander Zavala," the Iron Lord replied. "We will return them to the Tower, but there are questions here that need answers first."

"So you've seen?" Zillah asked.

"The Nightmares?" Aasim replied. "Yes. I've fought a few of them as well. Omnigul, for one. I've seen the ones that torment Eris, and have noticed the others that linger in various places as well."

"What are you talking about?" Kieron questioned. "Nightmares?"

"You haven't seen the ghosts?" I asked.

"The boy came straight down here," Aasim answered. "Direct transmat."

"The boy?" Kieron was incredulous.

Aasim ignored him and continued. "Eris has hinted at having some understanding of what is happening. I had hoped to investigate that further, before I heard about your daughter's team and shifted my focus. I am beginning to suspect the two may be related."

"You think whatever is causing these Nightmares has Celeste?" I questioned.

Aasim nodded.

"Then let's find out what is causing them," I said.

…

**AN**

**Thanks to Shark_Blank for the kudos on this and all the other related stories.**

**Silentxmaniac: Yeah, I get it. Some of it is routine. I'd been writing during my off-period at work, so even though I have more time now, that schedule is gone and there are too many other distractions and things I'd like to spend time doing, and my "me time" is limited.**

**So, this chapter. Back when I thought I might write this whole story before posting, so that I could guarantee a steady update schedule, this was the last chapter I had written that I was happy with. (I had also written 7 and 8, but did not like them.) Then, I accidentally deleted it. But, instead of it being in my trash, it just… vanished. I was pretty upset. I don't think that this is as good as the first version, but… it is what it is at this point.**


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